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Sporadic Gazan rocket fire violated the shaky Egyptian-brokered cease-fire that
Israel and Islamic Jihad established on Tuesday in an effort to end four days of
violence that saw over 300 rockets launched toward Israel.

In total, 167
of the projectiles hit Israel, some 45 fell inside the Gaza Strip and 56 were
intercepted by the Iron Dome counter-rocket defense system. Twenty-five
Palestinians were killed during the fighting, including three civilians, and
eight Israelis were wounded.

Palestinians fired a rocket into southern
Israel on Tuesday night that struck in the heart of Netivot, in violation of the
cease-fire.

The rocket hit a parking lot, police said. There were no
immediate reports of injuries. A bomb squad was dealing with the attack and
emergency services were on site to help people suffering from
shock.

Earlier on Tuesday evening, two rockets landed in the Ashkelon
Coast region, marking the first such attacks since midday. Previously,
terrorists fired five mortar shells and two rockets at southern Israel just before noon. No injuries or damages were reported.

“Quiet
will be met with quiet and fire will be met with fire,” IDF Chief of Staff
Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz told new recruits on Tuesday.

While Palestinians
took to the streets in Gaza City to celebrate “victory” over Israel, IDF sources
said that Islamic Jihad had been severely beaten during the recent
violence.

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“They lost a significant number of the mid-level commanders and
a lot of infrastructure,” a senior officer said. “This will hopefully teach them
a lesson.”

Nevertheless, IDF officers acknowledged that a new round of
violence was likely just a “matter of time” and that Islamic Jihad would use the
coming weeks to regroup, rearm and then renew its rocket
attacks. According to reports denied by Israel, Islamic Jihad agreed to
the cease-fire after Israel agreed not to target terrorist
leaders.

Despite the cease-fire, the IDF said it would keep the three
Iron Dome batteries in service deployed in the South in case Gazans fired more
rockets in the coming days. On Tuesday, the Home Front Command lifted its
restrictions and schools are expected to open as usual on
Wednesday.

Islamic Jihad secretary-general Ramadan Shallah addressed
demonstrators in Gaza City by phone from Syria and said his group had sent an
important message to Israel – “that despite the siege, the Palestinians are able
to defend themselves, instill fear among millions of Israelis, disrupt their
lives and send them hiding in shelters.”

Israel was mistaken in assuming
that the Gaza Strip was “easy prey,” he said. He boasted that his group, which
fired dozens of rockets and mortar shells at Israel since Friday, had “created a
balance of terror with the enemy.”

“One round has ended, but the war has
not ended and won’t end until the liberation of Palestine and the dismantlement
of the Zionist project,” Shallah declared. “Our men have turned the Gaza Strip
from a jungle for rifles into a jungle for rockets.”

Muhammad al-Hindi,
another Islamic Jihad leader, told the crowd that his group has succeeded in
forcing Israel “to take one step backward.” He claimed that Israel was
eventually forced to “succumb to the demands of Islamic Jihad and pledge to stop
assassinations.”

Despite the truce, his group would continue to prepare
for the next confrontation with Israel, he said.

“This is the first time
that the resistance succeeds in imposing its conditions on the enemy,” Hindi
said.

Yaakov Lappin contributed to this report.

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